Hackers Remotely Kill the Engine of a Jeep While It Drives Down the Highway

Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek remotely hack a moving 2014 Jeep Cherokee being driven on the highway by Wired writer Andy Greenberg. Miller and Valasek start small by turning on the vehicle’s air conditioning, stereo, and windshield wipers before upping their attack and disabling the Jeep’s engine.

While safely in a parking lot, Miller and Valasek also demonstrated to Greenberg that they can control the car’s brakes and steering, which left the car in a ditch.

Miller and Valasek have found a vulnerability in the vehicle’s onboard entertainment system that allows them to gain control of the vehicle while sitting safely miles away. While they have focused their efforts on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, the pair says the vulnerability could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of cars on the road today. They have alerted Chrysler who have released a patch for the vulnerability.